In a scathing critique of the Republican presidential candidate, The New York Times calls on Chris Christie to exit the race. Stat.
“The point is that New Jersey is in trouble, and the governor is off pursuing a presidential run that’s turned out to be nothing more than a vanity project,” the editorial board wrote. “Mr. Christie’s numbers are in the basement, and he’s nearly out of campaign cash. This is his moment, all right: to go home and use the year left in his term to clean out the barn, as Speaker John Boehner would say.”
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The editorial comes the day after the third Republican debate where Christie is widely considered to have had a good debate performance, but he is struggling with low poll numbers in the crowded field. The NBC News/Wall Street Journal poll released earlier this month showed Christie receiving just 1% support.
Christie responded via Twitter, saying he’s “not going anywhere.”
This editorial is the second local newspaper this week to denounce their local politician running for president. The Sun Sentinel wrote that Florida Senator Marco Rubio should resign from the Senate because of missing nearly 50% of the votes and for saying he doesn’t like his day job.
The Times critique of Christie is not new. The paper has long been critical of Christie, refusing to endorse him in both of his gubernatorial elections.
“While Mr. Christie talks tough to empty rooms in Des Moines, Trenton is running on autopilot. Take Mr. Christie’s breakout moment, his response to Hurricane Sandy. Today, one-third of New Jersey residents hardest-hit by the storm say they are ‘very dissatisfied’ with the state’s response so far; two-thirds say they feel ‘forgotten,’” The Times wrote.
Christie’s struggles at home run deep. The legislature overrode one of his vetoes for the first time.
Christie’s campaign plans to fundraise off of the editorial by saying the times has shown “their true liberal bias.”
Steve Kornacki and Kelly O’Donnell contributed to this post, which first appeared on NBCNews.com.
Leigh Ann Caldwell